Exploring Kunming and Shi Jie Bei!

Saturday June 12, 2010

Today was an amazing day. We had another field trip, and we first went to the Black Dragon Pool, on the outskirts of Kunming. It took over 30 minutes to get there. It was really cool, it had small lake things and some hiking paths if you took the back way, which we did. The dean from the College of Arts and Sciences is here for the week, and hiked around with us. He seems to be a really cool person. We ended up finding a dragon gate thing, and we were really glad to take the road less travelled by. 5 points to anyone catching the reference. After that, Rachel, Jeremy, and I climbed up to the top of the main path to see a pagoda statue. We ended up climbing up a rough trail towards the top of the mountain hill to see an amazing view of Kunming. We only had a few minutes left, so Jeremy ran up to see if it was worth it. Up there, we found some graves, and it was just really neat. The graves are above the ground, and look like a small hut, with grass growing on the top. Some were slightly decorated with fake flowers and shiny things.

After running back to the group, we went to the Botanical Gardens. The greenhouses were closed, and there really wasn’t much to see. We were only there for 30 minutes, which was good. We walked around, which was nice, but we would have rather had 30 minutes left at the Black Dragon Pool. Both of the outdoorsy activities really made me want to go camping. At the Black Dragon Pool we could smell a fire, and that woodsy smell. I definitely miss that about America.

After, we went to a Hot Pot restaurant with the Dean of Int’l Students at Yunan University. The food was amazing, and we got to eat bell peppers that were supposed to make the soup spicy. If anyone doesn’t know what Hot Pot is, here you go: You sit at a table and there is a big pot in the middle. Sometimes the pot is split in half, one spicy, one not. You order food and cook it in the pot, then eat it. It is pretty simple, and a fun way to eat.

We then went to a huge lake in Southern Kunming. The sun was out, and it was wonderful to feel it on my skin. We were only there for about 20 minutes, but I got to pet dogs and we talked to some Chinese children. The lake is heavily polluted, so it was very dark and smelled awful. But it was great to see a lake and feel the sun again. The lake sort of had a boardwalk alongside, where people could run, walk, fly kites, and rent car-scooter things. We then went to our translators apartment, which was absolutely beautiful. It was two stories, and had gorgeous Chinese red wood furniture and decorations everywhere. They had a tea ceremony set, and Kayla practiced what we learned in class. The mother, grandmother, and father were all there. The mom kept force feeding us fruit and candies. I had two bananas that were twice the size as American bananas. I didn’t want the second one, but didn’t have a choice, haha. It was the kind of Chinese hospitality I have been missing so far. The translator taught us mahjong, while Kayla taught some others how to play Gin Rummy. Apparently they are pretty much the same game. I ended up winning most of the mahjong games, and I am going to buy a set to take home and teach everyone. I absolutely love it! Someone joked they were going to take me to play on the streets, where they play with money.
For dinner, we went next door to a restaurant hotel, that looks like an authentic Chinese building- what you picture when you think of Chinese buildings. They arranged for us to eat food from the ancient Bai People of China. Most of it was really good, but it was definitely a lot different than what I have had before. The translator’s father had us all try the “white wine” of China, which is called Bai Jiu. I had tasted it before in Beijing, and didn’t want to try again. But yet again, I didn’t have a choice. It is rude to not accept something like that in China, unfortunately. It was literally finger nail polish remover, and I did not like it one bit. Then they gave us a little red wine, which was apparently really good, but the waiter poured mine right on top of the Bai Jiu. It was not pleasant.
After, we came back to the hotel and hung out a little bit. We went out to try and find USA soccer jersey’s, but had no luck. Then we napped from about 11:30pm to 1:40am, waking up to go watch the USA vs England World Cup game. I now officially like soccer. The game was amazing, and being in a place filled with mostly USA supporters, and some England fans was a lot of fun. When England scored in the first 4 minutes, we were worried. But then the England goalie made his Epic fail of stopping the ball, and then letting go giving us a point, redeeming us. I love being in a city/country that actually cares about the world cup. It is a lot of fun. I have never cheered so much for USA before. It was a great experience, especially as odds were 7 to 1 that England would win. :)

-Shi Jie Bei= Chinese for The World Cup